Moonless Night
by Sparkling Grey
Summary: Edward left Bella, and she is taken to Itay by the Volturi. Now she must deal with the guard, it's leaders, and their pasts. It won't be very easy, and no one could've guessed what would happen.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.**

If there's one thing I've learned from all of this, it's that life goes on, no matter once. I was left, heartbroken and empty, and he came along and made something out of nothing, and helped me move on. When I lost so much, and he pieced me back together, and got me to live again.

It's no secret we're in love, but some still question him, and sometimes me, about how we can love each other, against all the laws of nature. I have to wonder that myself. A mouse shouldn't be attracted to a cat, nor should the cat love the mouse. So I, a human, shouldn't love him, a vampire. It makes no sense. But that's what makes it so beautiful.

Our love is a rather complicated thing, so I wouldn't be surprised if this confuses you. I'll make it a bit easier for you and tell you everything, from the beginning to now. The story of love, heart break, death, danger, plotting, and much more I don't know how to put into words. The story of going from loving one predator to loving another one.

I am Isabella Swan, and this is my story.

**A/N: I hope you liked the beginning! I know it's short, but the next chapter should be longer. I'm working on it right now, so it should be up quickly.**

**Any suggestions you have would be great, I'd love to add more to this story. I'd also love it if you'd review….**


	2. Volterra

**A/N: For those wondering, this story starts in New Moon, a while after Edward left. **

I rolled over to face the clock. It was nine-oh-eight in the morning. Normally, I'd still be sleeping. Why would I bother to get up that early on a Saturday? After all, it's not like I had anyone to meet. I laid in bed for a while just staring at the ceiling before I sat up and swung my feet over the side of my bed. I grabbed clothes, not really looking at what I'd gotten, and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and change my clothes before going to make breakfast. On the table, I found a note from Charlie.

_Bella,_

_Gone fishing. I'll be home sometime this afternoon._

_-Dad_

I left the note were it was, and poured myself some cereal, not looking at that either. I wished that I had, though, after a while. I really don't like Lucky Charms, at least with milk on it. Marshmallows and milk just isn't my thing. After cleaning up breakfast, I decided to go back to bed. On my way to my room, I heard the front door open. I made my way back, thinking Charlie might have forgotten something. But it wasn't Charlie waiting for me.

A pale face greeted me, and a surge of panic flooded through me. I didn't recognize the vampire in front of me, but his red eyes told me they might not be here for a friendly visit. I opened my mouth to speak, only to realize I couldn't find any words. He walked forward, mouth opening. It seemed that _he_ was going to talk. But what he was going to say, I'll never know. Because when he had walked a meter in front of me, I fainted.

-x-x-x-

I woke up in a bedroom way to nice to be mine. I couldn't focus too much on that, though, because I felt like someone had hammered my head.

"Hello, Isabella," a boy's voice said, and I jumped a little. Once my shock died down, questions raced through my mind.

"Who are you? Where am I? How do you know my name? Why am I here?" I asked quickly with the occasional stutter at the start of a question. The boy smirked.

"How about we go one at a time?" He suggested. I nodded.

"Where am I?" I questioned him. Asking him the remainder of my questions, I learned everything I had wanted to. I was in Volterra, Italy, his name was Alec, I was here because someone named Aro thought I might have 'interesting' powers if I was changed into a vampire, and he knew my name because they'd 'been watching me'. The last answer creeped me out, but at least he was telling me what I wanted to know.

I wanted to know more, like who this Aro guy was, and why they'd been watching me, but I had one question that I found more important.

"Who was the man at my house?" I asked, fright taking over me as I remembered him.

"That was Felix. I guess he scared you." He chuckled. At that moment, Felix walked in.

"Speak of the devil," I murmured, and Felix glared at me before looking at Alec.

"Aro would like to see the girl."

I took a deep breath as I got off the bed and stood on the tiled floor. I walked over to Felix, still a bit scared. He smirked at me, as if he could tell what I was feeling. As far as I knew, he could. But maybe I was just easy for him to read. I walked out of the room, and when he saw he wasn't going to get any reaction out of me, he followed me out, and led me down a flight of stairs, and through a couple halls, my worry increasing with every step I took. Who was Aro, and what was he like? The only human-feeding vampires I've met where James, Victoria and Laurent, who didn't leave a good impression, Alec, who seemed nice enough, or at least like he wasn't going to eat me, and Felix. But Felix was just… creepy, to be honest.

Suddenly, he stopped in front of me. I hadn't been paying much attention, and so I ran into him. I quickly jumped back, rubbing my aching head, and he turned to glare at me before he opened the door. I entered the room, and the door shut behind me. I looked around the room. It was rather large, with large, filled bookcases lining the walls and looked like an office with a desk at the side opposite of me. It wasn't until he spoke that I noticed the man behind the desk.

"Hello, Isabella." He said. The vampire had black hair that almost touched his shoulders. It looked strange beside his skin, which was an onion white, and looked thin and papery.

"Hello," I replied politely, while I tried to decide if he was perfect, like the other undead I had met. It didn't take me long to think that he was, at least as far as features go. It also wasn't very long before I realized that I was mentally comparing him to faces I would rather forget.

"Please, take a seat." He gestured to the chair across from him, his voice brining me out of my thoughts. I walked cautiously over, not quite sure if I should or not. I sat down, and the room was quiet, as if he was giving me the chance to speak. Figuring that I should say something, I spoke.

"Not to be rude, but… You're Aro, right?" I said nervously. He smiled slightly before answering.

"Yes, I am." Aro reached a hand over the table, and I shook it. He nodded, barley noticeably, to himself. I was puzzled, but I didn't ask.

"I assume that you would have some questions?"

"Well, yes." I replied timidly. He nodded at me, a gesture I took as permission to ask something.

"I was just wondering," I spoke slowly, I wasn't exactly comfortable here, "why exactly I'm here."

"You are here because we believe that, if you where changed, you may have…" Her paused for a moment, seeming to be looking for the right word to use. "Interesting abilities."

"But how did you find me?" I blurted out before I realized what I was doing. I sunk back into my chair, embarrassed and a little scared. The man in front of me was obviously powerful, and I could only hope I hadn't made him angry. Aro simply chuckled, and I let out a breath I'd been holding.

"Word traveled rather quickly about you and the Cullens." I winced at the name. "We figured we should keep an eye on you, in case, after they had told you too much, you decided to…" He paused again, I guessed he was looking for the right words. "Share said knowledge."

_I would never!_ I wanted to protest, but I thought against it. One outburst was enough for me. So I settled for nodding. At least I knew what I wanted to, right? Although, there was one more thing I was curious about.

"What do you think I'll be able to do?" I said quietly. Aro opened his mouth to speak, but at that moment, there was a knock at the door. He gave his permission to enter, to whoever it was on the other side. A man stuck his head into the room.

"Master Caius would like to have a word with you." The man shut the door almost as soon as he had opened it. Then Aro stood up.

"I'm afraid I must be going. Perhaps we could continue our conversation some other time." I mumbled a quiet agreement to his suggestion. I stood up, and followed him out of the room, watching as he left down the hallway. Turning to face the other direction, I jumped as I saw someone behind me, and I could feel my heart beat faster. Alec laughed at this. I breathed in, trying to calm myself down.

"Hi Alec," I greeted, and he returned the hello.

"How did it go?" He asked.

"It was… interesting." I answered lamely as he showed me to where I assumed was the bedroom I had woken up in.


	3. Attack of the Mutant Chicken

**I'm back! I've redone the chapters that were already up, but nothing super important has been changed. You can thank Celebwen Telcontar for this chapter being up, seeing as we're now collaborating on this and she's come up with most of the plot. Go check out her once you've read this.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Twilight. Celebwen Telcontar owns the variation of Go Fish used in this chapter, though.**

-x-x-x-

I glared at the man across the table from me, who smirked in response. I narrowed my eyes, snarling slightly, and slapped the King of Spades on the table, leveling a nasty glare at him.

"Do you have any Jokers?" I asked with a sweet smile. Felix cursed as he smacked his Joker on the table and pushed it towards me. I put it with my own Joker, signaling the end of the game. Since I had the most groupings, I won.

"That was a stupid game! That was hardly even Go Fish!" Felix complained angrily. I laughed at him, making him scowl.

"You're just mad that you lost!" Felix opened his mouth to say something back, but then there was a loud crash from somewhere outside the room. We looked at each other, but when there was another crash, Felix ran off to see what it was. I was left to trail behind, stumbling through the halls following the noises. I finally found the source of the noise and saw the secretary yelp and leap out of the way of flying rock as a large chunk of ancient marble soared her way by accident. I looked her way long enough to see her flee the room before my eyes were drawn to the battle in front of me. Chelsea and Afton, two of the guards, were very, very angry at each other. I hadn't caught onto what they were fighting about, but from the looks of things, it must have been bad.

Afton snarled in a different language and for a moment, his eyes flashed. Then, from behind me, I smelt the weirdest thing I'd ever smelled. It smelled like a reptile, but there was something off about it. I knew even before I turned around that it wasn't going to be anything remotely as nice as the alligators at the zoo. Needless to say, I was pretty scared. I froze, but once I heard the broken stones crunch behind me I turned around, wide-eyed.

Standing in the middle of the debris from the fight and looking beyond angry was the biggest living… _thing_ I could imagine. Its body was a strange mottled color like camouflage blues, greens, and browns. It had a massive head that was balance by a thick, muscular tail. The thing had legs that kind of looked like a gigantic chicken's, appeared way too big even for the creature. My mind raced to figure out what had happened. My thoughts were cut off, however, by whatever was in front of me opening its mouth, showing serrated teeth like steak knives, each at least fifteen centimeters long, and roared. I jumped, and suddenly Chelsea was beside me. Obviously the battle had stopped while I was distracted.

"Where did this… creation come from?" She asked her husband.

"I… I don't know. I can only manipulate genes that are already present… I think!"

"Well, try again!" Chelsea demanded. Afton squished his eyes shut. Suddenly, the dinosaur sprouted feathers and let loose a horrible squawk, like a chicken gone seriously wrong. I covered my ears to block out the awful noise. Chelsea stared at Afton, giving him "the look", but he was too busy staring at his creation. I couldn't help myself, and snorted a laugh. Only Afton could create a tyrannosaurus and then turn it into a mutated chicken. For a moment, I wondered what it would taste like.

Then, the dinosaur-chicken-thing swung down and pecked. Shards of rock flew all over as its beak smashed into the stone floor. The door slammed open and other people started coming in. I noticed Jane stared at it, trying to incapacitate it. Apparently, Jane's powers don't work on giant mutant chickens because it ignored her, and pecked at the floor a second time. I dodged a chunk of rock this time, and that stupid chicken, which was apparently a rooster, crowed. It was like it was mocking me. Aro looked at Afton.

"Interesting," he came forward and held Afton's hand for a while and then began to laugh, obviously delighted. At least someone was enjoying this. "Perhaps you should try to make it into many small things."

Afton made the weirdest face I'd ever seen in my life as he tried to concentrate. While he did this, the mutant chicken's rear end was slowly dissolving into flies. It sounds gross, but it was actually pretty cool. The chicken didn't like it much, though. In a final fit of anger, it pecked angrily and repeatedly at the floor. I wasn't as quick with my dodging this time, and I was hit in the head with a bit of the floor. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was someone calling my name.

-x-x-x-

When I woke up, Felix was sitting by my bed. I tried to sit up, but I just fell back down. I really hurt.

"Hey, Felix," I murmured weakly. "What happened?"

"You hit your head and passed out," he said completely nonchalantly.

"Oh. That makes sense, if I hit my head. For a moment there, I thought I remembered Afton making a dinosaur! And then it turned into a mutant chicken. I guess that just proves that it really isn't a good thing when babies hit their heads, if that's what happens to a teenager. I knew a kid once, and he'd hit his head when he was a baby. He seemed okay, but I think I might've missed something, now, because, I mean, a _mutant chicken_! That can't be good. At all. Wait… What did I hit my head on? How'd I hit my head? Wh–"

"Bella?" He interrupted me, chuckling a little.

"Yeah?"

"You talk a lot."

"Oh, sorry Felix."

"I wasn't finished yet. Anyways, there actually _was _a dinosaur. But then it turned into a chicken, that turned into flies." I went to say something. "Still not done, Bella. You hit your head on stone from the floor."

It stayed silent for a while, before he said, "Bella, I'm done now."

"Well, so am I."

"Wait!" Felix said, jumping up. "I lied! Aro wants to see you."

I groaned, and sat up. I finger combed my hair, incase it'd gotten messed up. I didn't have a mirror, so I just combed until I was content. Hopefully it wasn't too bad. Felix led the way to Aro's study, and I followed. Felix knocked on the door, and once Aro had told us to enter, he held the door open for me, and then closed it once I was in. Aro smiled at me and waved his hand towards the seat in front of him. Like last time, I sat down.

"Hello again, young Bella," he greeted me.

"Hello, Aro."

"How is your head?"

"Fine, thank you." I lied. I'm sure he saw through my lie anyways.

"Wonderful! However, that is not the reason I asked you to come here. Do you know what Afton's gift is?"

"Sort of," I said. "I think he said that he can… manipulate genes?"

"Yes! Very good. But he can only manipulate what is _present._ Did you notice that Jane had no effect on the bird?" I nodded. "That means that there were genes nearby that gave it immunity. _Your_ genes, to be exact. The way the bird used your gift made me wonder what the full extent of your power is. Bella, would you consent to do some experiments involving your power? Nothing overly dangerous, just some of the guard using their powers on you. Not enough to do much damage, of course. It'd be fairly simple, and require little effort on your part."

I thought for a moment. Aro said wouldn't be in danger. Well, _much_ danger. That part didn't make me feel too good. But, from what I'd seen so far, the only one that could seriously hurt me was Jane, and the chicken didn't get hurt. Plus, I was kind of interested to see what I could do, too.

"That sounds fine." I answered. He smiled and clapped his hands together.

"Wonderful! We'll start tomorrow."


	4. Of Rocks and Unidentified Smells

**Some of you thought the last chapter was really weird, and it really was. There **_**is**_** a plot, but the last chapter, this one, and the next are fillers. Then the plot gets going. Anyways, for the last chapter, there were 282 people who looked at it, and only three reviews. Me and ****Celebwen Telcontar decided to make a reviewing system. Every chapter you review, you will appear in the next chapter. For example, if you review this chapter, you could show up as the receptionist, or your username could show up if Bella's on the internet, stuff like that. So, along with your review of this chapter, leave your first name if you want to appear in person, otherwise we'll use your username. **

**Disclaimer: We own nothing. **

-x-x-x-

_"Yes! Very good. But he can only manipulate what is present. Did you notice that Jane had no effect on the bird?" I nodded. "That means that there were genes nearby that gave it immunity. _Your_ genes, to be exact. The way the bird used your gift made me wonder what the full extent of your power is. Bella, would you consent to do some experiments involving your power? Nothing overly dangerous, just some of the guard using their powers on you. Not enough to do much damage, of course. It'd be fairly simple, and require little effort on your part."_

_I thought for a moment. Aro said I wouldn't be in danger. Well, _much_ danger. That part didn't make me feel too good. But, from what I'd seen so far, the only one that could seriously hurt me was Jane, and the chicken didn't get hurt. Plus, I was kind of interested to see what I could do, too._

_"That sounds fine." I answered. He smiled and clapped his hands together._

_"Wonderful! We'll start tomorrow."_

-x-x-x-

I screamed almost as soon as I opened my eyes, and bolted up into a sitting position, holding the sheets against me. If someone had asked me to make a list of things I didn't expect to wake up to, Jane giving me a look that would make Lord Voldemart cry would be pretty close to the top. Felix and Afton, who had become my guards, chuckled from behind her. I didn't think it was funny. Jane stormed off, leaving me confused.

"Why was Jane in my room?" I asked Felix after I had a few moments to compose myself. He and Afton looked slightly confused.

"I thought you were aware of the tests? To test the limits of your power," he added the last bit after it was evident I wasn't cluing in. I groaned. Apparently Aro's idea of "tomorrow" was six in the morning. I kicked the boys out so I could get ready. I had a feeling this was going to be a long day.

-x-x-x-

I had been wrong, oddly enough. It was beyond boring, though. For the most part, I just stood there while different gifted members of the guard came up, tried to use their power on me, and then left once nothing happened. Jane kept giving me dirty looks, but I didn't mind too much. And, it was pretty cool, knowing everything that I could do without even trying. I could shield Jane, even while I was asleep. Chelsea couldn't change my relationships.

At one point when trying to find what I could do, Renata tried to get me to go someplace. While I didn't notice, another did. One of the Volturi had decided to find out if I shielded physical attacks, and the attack came in the form of a large stone Jane hurled at me. The rock hit me in the bicep, and I yelped with pain, dancing around as the new joint in my arm made itself known. My ribcage also hurt terribly, and every breath felt like I was breathing in fire and couldn't get enough air. I felt something liquid seep down my shirt, and lifted my arm, all but screaming in pain. I saw the two crushed ends of the bone sticking out of my arm, blood running from the wound. Felix turned and ran straight at Jane taking her down while removing himself from my vicinity, shutting and locking the door behind Jane and then racing around to slam all but one door, which Afton fled through, slamming and locking the door behind him.

Aro appeared not long after, and he didn't speak, holding his breath obviously, his eyes glowing red that reminded me of Hawaiian lava I'd seen on TV. Obviously, he'd just fed to keep from attacking me. He straightened my bone and held it together as Afton appeared with the same glowing red eyes, and glowered at my arm until the flesh knitted together again. My head felt funny, and I placed my hand on my temple. Afton said something to Aro, but my head was buzzing and ringing so much I couldn't understand it. I heard something about my lungs, blood, and skin. Then, mercifully, I passed out.

-x-x-x-

When the ringing in my head stopped, I found Afton standing at my door, looking rather sheepish.

"Felix is outside, watching the hallway. I changed your bone and skin structure, making you stronger and more invulnerable."

"What were my injuries?" I asked, flexing my formerly injured arm.

"Compound humorous fracture, broken rib cage, cardiac bruising, spontaneous pnumothorax—"

"Wait… what?" I asked. I got the idea that he had been talking in technical terms to keep me from figuring out just how badly I was injured. I heard something about broken ribs and cardiac bruising, and even though I wasn't a doctor, I knew what cardiac was. A bruised heart didn't sound very good.

"Don't… breathe too hard. Your left humorous, the upper arm bone, was shattered with the bones sticking out of the skin. The left side of your rib cage was shattered. Pieces of the ribs broke through the lungs, giving you a punctured lung, which later collapsed. The force of the blow also bruised your heart, which untreated, could make it explode and fill the body with clear fluid."

"So… my heart…" I asked, placing one hand on my chest.

"Is alright. I healed it and made it less… fragile, and made the rest of you just as durable. The last time I saw anyone with that bad of a bruised heart, they had fallen with a heavy weight on their back, which was badly injured, three times. Later, he went through severe torture, and he died when his heart exploded three hours later. Someone punctured his chest cavity, and clear fluid, then called 'water', came out."

"How was he tortured?" I asked softly. "And why?"

"Politics. That's the only reason. And it was a couple millennia ago, so don't worry about it." I could tell that there was something he was holding back, but decided not to ask.

-x-x-x-

I'd rested for what seemed like a long time. Afton must have done a good job on making me stronger, as I was only sore. Heidi had offered to walk around with me, and I had accepted. We weren't talking too much, but I was fine with that. Occasionally one of us would say something, but that didn't happen too often. Suddenly, Heidi stopped, and got a weird look on her face.

"What is it?" I asked her, confused.

"There are humans here, they must have wandered in. I'll go take care of it. You stay here," Heidi ordered. I nodded, and before I could even blink, she was gone. I did what I was told and stood still. I thought about whistling to pass the time, but I couldn't whistle very well. Yes, that's right. I, Bella Swan, can not whistle worth crap.

I did as I was told, and stayed in the same area for a while, although I moved around the hall a bit. I was starting to get freaked out, though. It was eerily quiet, and even though vampires were extremely quiet, there would normally be the occasional opening and shutting of doors, at least. Since I didn't know where anyone I knew was, and I didn't have anything else to do, I leaned against a wall and twiddled my thumbs.

It was actually really boring. I was wishing that something would happen, until Jane turned around the corner. That wasn't the something I was hoping for. I figured she'd already seen me, but I didn't want to deal with her right then, so I ran. I didn't pay attention to where I was going, and turned as many corners as I could. I stopped for a moment, and heard light, barely audible footsteps. Unsure if it was Jane, but not wanting to check, I looked for the nearest door.

The first one I saw looked like a bank vault of sorts. Thinking that it would be were the Volturi kept their money, or jewels, or whatever, I used all my strength to open it. I opened it just enough to squeeze inside, attempting to shut it behind me. I knew I didn't get it all the way, but I didn't care. I turned around, and saw that there were _more_ halls. How many halls did one place need? Figuring that I might as well look around, I started walking. I turned corners a few times, and soon I hit a wall of stink. It was indescribable, and made me feel like clawing my nose off. I whipped back around, and, looking at the different halls to walk down, realized that I was lost, again. Though the smell was still assaulting my nose, I only had one thing on my mind. _Where am I?_


	5. Avus

_The first door I saw looked like a bank vault of sorts. Thinking that it would be were the Volturi kept their money, or jewels, or whatever, I used all my strength to open it. I opened it just enough to squeeze inside, attempting to shut it behind me. I knew I didn't get it all the way, but I didn't care. I turned around, and saw that there were more halls. How many halls did one place need? Figuring that I might as well look around, I started walking. I turned corners a few times, and soon I hit a wall of stink. It was indescribable, and made me feel like clawing my nose off. I whipped back around, and, looking at the different halls to walk down, realized that I was lost, again. Though the smell was still assaulting my nose, I only had one thing on my mind. Where am I? _

-x-x-x-

I began to panic. I couldn't see any clues about where I was, other than the horrid smell. I started to gag, and bent over in pain for a while. Eventually, I stopped, and stood up straight, although my sides hurt. I figured that I wasn't getting anywhere just standing around, and that I might as well start walking around to find a way out. I chose a pathway, and walked through it.

The smell got worse as I walked, and stung my nose. Suddenly, I tripped. I screamed and caught myself before my head hit the ground, but my knees had bashed against the floor, and I knew by the sting that they had been scraped. I felt the advanced Healing Afton had given me kick in, and I felt them heal themselves. It was a strange feeling, but at least the fabric didn't heal in them. Slowly, I stood up, and turned around to see what I had fallen over. My eyes widened, and I sharply drew in a breath, the stench stinging my throat. On the floor in front of me was a human bone, bits of flesh still clinging onto it. Turning back the way I was going, I started to run. It probably wasn't the best idea. But I stopped as soon as I saw the walls.

There were niches on both sides of the walkway, filled with bodies. Some looked fairly new, where as others were only skeletons, as well as every state of decay in between. Realizing that this was not where I wanted to be, I ran back towards where I had chosen to go this way. I had forgotten that I didn't know where I had been, so I just kept running until the smell had lessened, putting me farther away from the bodies.

I took a deep breath, glad for the slightly better air. I looked around, and made sure I couldn't see any bodies anywhere nearby. Although I didn't find any, I did see more niches a bit farther down. I found myself moving towards them, curious to see if there was anything other than bodies in them. Thankfully, the terrible smell that was all around was still lessening.

Not wanting to get too close until I knew what I was looking at, I only stood close enough to see what was inside. To my surprise, I saw urns. They were from all different eras, some red pottery with lettering in black paint, some bronze, some copper, a few iron, and a couple that looked like solid silver and gold. All of them had lettering, some of it Greek, some Latin, some in different Arabic and Chinese. I blew the dust off of one of the silver urns, which seemed to be looking at me. The lettering was strange, flowing calligraphy. I had seen the lettering before somewhere, in some book, but that didn't mean I could translate it. For some reason I picked it up. It was warm in my hands, and beautiful. I thought of how lovely it would look in my room on my nightstand.

A chill ran up my spine, and I began to wonder why there would be urns down here with decaying bodies when I heard a squeak. The single noise was soon followed by others, along with a faint scurrying sound. Slowly, I turned around to see what was causing the noise, although I had an idea about what was behind me. Sadly, I had been right. Letting out a small squeal of fear, I turned around and began to run.

Renee had been scared of mice and rats for as long as I could remember. Unfortunately, she had passed that onto me. Considering the amount of rodents that were scurrying through the pathways, my day had gotten worse, which was something I hadn't thought possible at that point. I ran with every ounce of strength I had left after all the running I'd done that day. Suddenly, I hit something hard, felt it give and tumble, and fell forwards. My whole body hurt, especially my feet, and I forgot about the rodents as I realized what I was on top of.

Or, rather, who I was on top of, and how close I was to them. I awkwardly stumbled to my feet, blushing and mumbling apologies. Aro got up much quicker, and seemed much calmer as he apologized.

"It's fine," I said, not thinking as I spoke. "I didn't mind."

Aro smirked a little, and I realized how my words could have been interpreted.

"Not that I …! I would never! Not with you! Not that you're – Oh, I give up!" I looked down at my feet and blushed fiercely as I heard Aro chuckle. The sound was like beach sand running over velvet.

"What's in the urns?" I asked before I could stop myself.

"Enemies," Aro replied. I shuddered. Vampire's ashes were in those urns.

"Who's the silver one?"

"This one?" he asked, tapping the urn in my nerveless fingers, his tone low and questioning.

"Yes. Why did I keep it?"

"You don't want to know, my heart. I hope you are strong, my sweet beauty."

"What?"

"Will you give it to me to keep you safe?"

"Um... yeah. Why?"

"Good." We must get out of this place before It finds your soul." I was confused at the emphasis he had put on the word "It". He removed the urn from my grasp and took off at a run, returning less than a quarter of a minute later.

"What is It?"

"I am sorry. I am going to knock you out and take you out of here. It cannot find you if you are unconscious. He has already Seen you, and It already knows of you." I felt his cold hand at the base of my neck and knew no more.

-x-x-x-

Opening my eyes, I saw the ceiling of my room. A large meal was waiting for me, and Aro was reading something on my computer.

"Good, you're awake. The last Human who was caught by the Silver Urn died. You are very lucky, my heart. We have sealed the entrances of the catacombs completely. No one can get in there now, not even a Vampire. I know you will try; it is impossible to be completely free of it once It finds you."

"What is It?" I asked, sitting up.

"An indestructible terror of long ago. That is all you need know."

"I've seen the writing before."

"You probably have. When you find the writing, look for the most terrible thing the writing describes. That is what is in the Silver Urn." Aro gently stroked my cheek, his face grave, then left me after turning off the computer.

-x-x-x-

Days had passed, and I couldn't get the Silver Urn out of my mind. I kept trying to find it, even though I knew it was sealed up in the catacombs. Aro kept giving me encouragement, telling me that I was doing well, whatever that meant. He even had the bizarre idea of hiring a band to play down here just for me, probably to distract me from the Silver Urn. He also hired several private tutors for various subjects, including photography, drawing and painting, creative writing, poetry, music, and linguistics. Within a week I was overloaded. Within a month I was ready to kill somehting. Then, he urged me to check my e-mail, which I had been neglecting, and take a break from the lessons.

I opened the first one, looking over my shoulder as Aro left. Afton was languidly standing by the door, looking at me.

"What did you do to him?" Afton finally asked. I ignored him, concentrating on the e-mails. One was from my mother.

_Hi, Bella! _

_We are doing fine here in Florida. I hope you are enjoying your stay in Italy! It must be so exciting, seeing so many different places! _

My parents had been told that I was going to Italy for a foreign exchange program. They were upset that I had left so suddenly, and without telling them that I was going. Luckily, neither of them was very suspicious. Before I came to Volterra, I had mentioned a foreign exchange program, and Charlie and Renee had agreed that getting out of Forks might be good for me.

_Have you seen any of France? One of our ancestresses was from France. Nicole Saulnier, a cooper's daughter who was given a dowry by King Louis XIV to sail to Canada to get married to someone she had never met. I'm finding all sorts of things here on . I've sent you a page, where I've traced our family back to the Roman era in France! A lot of people helped me; mostly relatives I never knew existed! I've made friends with several of them, and we're planning a family reunion in Quebec in three years! Maybe you can look up some family in Italy. Who knows, we may be related to the Medici! _

_Have fun, _

_Ciao (Did I spell that right?) _

_Mom _

I snorted. Mom was planning a family reunion for probably half the country by this rate. I opened the attachment, and looked at it. I saw a familiar name on the family tree, a Gaius Calidius Lucius. Something nagged at me; I had seen that name before.

"Afton," I said. "Who is Gaius Calidius Lucius? He lived outside of Paris when it was part of the Roman Empire."

"Why?" he asked, his tone guarded. He came over, and almost immediately gasped. He took over my laptop, hitting the Ctrl button, whatever that did, and P. The family tree began spitting out of the printer attached to my computer. So that was how I printed without finding the file tab! He grabbed each piece of paper as it came out of the printer, and highlighted "Gaius Calidius Lucius" in florescent yellow before rushing out without an explanation, leaving Felix to peek in, looking rather confused.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know. He saw the name of one of my ancestors, printed the entire family tree, and bolted." The hulking vampire came in, looked at the computer monitor, and raised his eyebrows.

"Interesting… You don't know who this is, do you?" he asked, touching Gaius Calidius Lucius's name with a finger.

"No."

"Hmmm… Apparently, he's your 44th great-grandfather, according to this. How anyone could track someone's tree back this far without supernatural help… That's irrelevant. Calidius Lucius is—" he never finished, but looked up with a pinched expression. A few seconds later, Afton and Caius entered my little room, and Afton immediately grabbed Felix and dragged him out. So far, I hadn't been alone with Caius for any length of time, and it made me slightly nervous.

"Your mother sent this to you?" he asked. Unlike how he'd sounded whenever we were with the other two Volturi, he sounded almost hopeful.

"Yes," I said. "She has a passion for genealogy."

"A good pastime. I never thought I had any living family," he said finally. I looked at him, confused.

"What do you mean?"

"In the Roman Empire, I was known as Gaius Calidius Lucius."

"You're my 44th great-grandfather?" I asked, confused.

"Yes."

"I… my… My grandparents all died before I was born," I began in a rush. Family was important to me, as it was to Mom. "Can…"

"You can call me 'Avus' if you'd like," he said softly. "It means 'Grandfather' or 'Forefather' in Latin." I wiped eyes that had suddenly become misty. I had more family than I had realized. Before I knew it, Caius was holding me, gently stroking my hair, and murmuring in Latin to me, calling me "Meus filia". I had family here. I held back, and then began to cry into his shirt. Here I had been, feeling lonely because I had no family here. Well, now that wasn't true. I couldn't wait to tell my mother. But that would mean introducing her to the supernatural world, which may not be the best idea.

-x-x-x-

Three days later, I had been talking with Caius about our family, when everyone around me started holding their breaths and looking absolutely disgusted. Heidi came barreling in, chasing a very sweaty Human.

"Stupid dog!" she snarled. Jacob Black came skidding to the floor at my feet and looked up with a stunned expression.

"Bella? What are you doing here?"


	6. Old Friends

"What am I doing here?" I asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you!" Jake snapped. "And I find you in a leech den!" Enkidu, one of the Volturi guards, snarled at being called a leech.

"Enkidu, it's okay," I told him. "He's a friend." Chelsea stared at Jacob, just staring. I could tell that she was manipulating his mind, making him loyal to the Volturi.

"A friend who smells like sulfur," Enkidu replied, scrunching his nose in disgust. "But if you vouch for him, I suppose it's okay."

"I do not smell like sulfur!" Jake snapped. "And for your information, leech, you smell like rotting fish!"

"Will you two just cut it out?" I said, hoping to keep the two of them from killing each other. Jake was trembling, and heat was pouring off of him. He was obviously pissed off about something. Chelsea blinked and stared even harder at Jake, who seemed to ignore him, but his body was getting less tense by the minute.

"He's not human, Bella," Felix said, subtly putting himself between the Quilliute and me.

"He's not a werewolf," Afton said, staring at Jacob, "But he is a wolf. That's strange. I think he's a shape shifter. Like the old bear-men in Germany."

"I've never heard of bear-men of Germany," Felix said.

"My mother used to tell me about it, and I think the story she told me was an extremely old one and got garbled up. Parts of it are in the Ring Cycle by Wagner, and parts of it in Beowulf, as well as parts of it scattered throughout mythology. My old English professor knew a bit about them."

"So do you know what you are, Jake?" I asked.

"I thought I was a werewolf. Apparently not." For some bizarre reason, he began disrobing. I raised an eyebrow.

"Jake, what are you doing?"

"Showing you. I'm a... shape-shifter, this leech said?" He walked to the middle of the room, where there was more space, then transformed into a giant red-brown wolf.

"Shape-shifter," Felix said. "Mother said the bear-men couldn't shift with their clothes on." Jake shifted back to a human and got re-clothed. Then, the door opened, and Aro, Marcus and Caius came in.

"Avus!" I called. "Aro! Marcus!"

"Who is this?" Caius asked.

"An old friend of mine. He's a shape-shifter."

"Into a wolf?" Aro asked, obviously having heard the conversation.

"Yep. And you are?"

"Jake, please meet my ancestor, Caius, and my friends, Aro and Marcus." Caius leaned down and kissed me on the cheeks, as he had taken to doing.

"Meus filia, how long have you known him?"

"Since I was a child. He won't harm anyone. Will you, Jake?" I asked, putting emphasis on the "will" to try and warn him off of doing any such thing.

"Course not. Bells is cool."

"You are a shape-shifter. Interesting," Aro said. He held out his hand for Jake to shake, and petted it ever so slowly. "Very, very interesting! I wonder if you would be willing to work with my people?"

"Depends," Jake said cautiously, taking his hand back from Aro, and looking quite distrustful. Aro looked at Marcus, who said simply,

"He loves Bella. He would do anything for her."

"She's my friend," Jake replied, putting the emphasis on "Friend". Marcus didn't reply.

"The only people you and your pack would have to defend would be her," Aro said. Jake raised an eyebrow.

"Really? Keep talking."

-x-x-x-

That night, I had another guard. Jake, in wolf form, laying outside my door by Felix. It was a change, having Jake with me here in Voterra. As I closed my eyes and fell asleep, my dreams were pierced by the Silver Urn.

"_I can help you_," a voice whispered. "_Whatever you desire can be yours, if only you reach out and take it_."

"_No_," I replied firmly.

"_You can have your beloved Edward, if only you choose to_."

"_Edward left me_," I snarled in response.

"_You are strong_," a different voice said. It was male, and he had a strange accent. "_Keep your mind on what you need to do, not on what It wants you to do._" The first voice laughed at that, a cruel, cold sound. "Alphwen_, do not listen to it_!" I sat up. What was this disembodied voice calling me?

"_I called you _Alphwen_. It means Swan Lady. Do not listen to it. You can be strong. I feel it._"

"What is it?" Afton asked.

"I have no idea. A voice in my mind, telling me to 'be strong' and not listen to another voice in my head. It's calling me Swan Lady." Afton laughed.

"Appropriate. What's the other voice?"

"The Silver Urn."

"The Silver Urn? What's that?"

"A silver urn in the catacombs. It likes me. Apparently, it killed the last human it possessed."

"Not good. Try... um... meditating." I raised one eyebrow.

"Meditating?"

"You know, clear your mind of everything distracting. Keep it clear as best you can." I lay back on my bed and closed my eyes, willing my mind to be clear. It didn't work.

"_I can give you your family_," the seductive voice crooned.

"_I have a family!_" Renee, Paul and Charlie's visages swam before my closed eyes. They were crying over a casket. I assumed it was mine. "_Kill me if you want to. I'm not going to be possessed by you._" It began sending me images of Forks, Tampa and Salt Lake. In each one, I was high in society, the mayor, the governor, or some other high-society woman. "_What would I do as a Governor?_" I asked it with a mental laugh. Then, the Silver Urn apparently tried to punish me. My mouth filled with a disgusting taste. It tasted like sushi, almost, only... worse, if that was possible. No seaweed, no rice, no wasabi, just pure, dead raw fish. I even felt it moving and gushing blood. I rolled over, and heaved. Instead of raw, still-alive fish in my mouth, I tasted bile and gastric acids, which was a distinct improvement.

"What is it?" Afton asked. He set the trash can down.

"I am never eating fish again," I muttered under my breath.

"You didn't have fish for dinner," he replied. "You had mushroom ravioli."

"Yeah, but the Silver Urn gave me raw fish. Still alive. Yuck."

"Raw fish that were... how was the term... 'raw and wriggling'?" I heaved again, bringing up nothing more than a few drops of gastric acid. "And it keeps trying to take over your mind?" Suddenly the door flew open and Caius burst in, followed by Aro. Felix brought up the rear, Jacob, still in wolf form, laying by the door to my bedroom. Caius laid a hand on my forehead.

"How do you feel, _meus filia_?" he asked softly.

"Like hell," I replied.

"Fish is going to be banned from the menus here," he told me. I chuckled. Afton held out a hand to Aro, who stroked it gently.

"I see. How... I see. Interesting. Your old English professor was not a writer. He was a historian. How fascinating!"

"What do you mean?" I groaned.

"I went to Oxford in the 30's," Afton said.

"What?" Felix yelped. "How-what-why-?"

"It's in the Silver Urn as best as I can guess."

"Emergency trip to Mt. Aetna, anyone?" Aro asked brightly, dropping Afton's hand. Everyone looked oddly at him save Afton. Jake yipped, his head turned sideways.

"That didn't work last time, Master," Afton said quietly.

"True. But, we can always hope. It may work this time."

"I don't think that's normal silver."

"Wouldn't mithril melt in magma as well as standard silver?" Aro asked. Jake whined then transformed human.

"What's going on, what's the Silver Urn, what does it have to do with English teachers, and what's going on with Mt. Aetna?" he asked everyone. No one answered him.

-x-x-x-

The streets were devoid of people. Edward Cullen walked down them slowly, imagining people bustling and running to and fro in their everyday life, not knowing their doom was right above them. The silence from mind-voices was soothing, a balm to his aching soul. A cold wind rushed down the street, whipping his hair all about. If he could cry, he would. He loved Bella, still did, and always would. She was his mate. He spun on his heel, intent on going back to Forks to be with her, his family be damned.

"_Help me..._" a voice whispered in his mind. There was no one around, no one to have thought anything. He pivoted, and then ran the length and breadth of the ancient Roman streets, passing hundreds of shrines and temples to gods and heroes, especially Hercules, this small town's namesake. "_Help me..._" He rushed on, flying past forums and fountains, past a house with bread still on the table and an amphora of wine tipped over, past walls made of compacted ash and volcanic debris, and onto the beach front, where so many people had lost their lives waiting for ships that would never come.

The plea for help kept ringing in his mind, and he passed excavated chamber after excavated chamber near the ocean, looking in at the skeletal remains of the people of the once beautiful town of Herculaneum. A woman cradling a child, a tiny skeleton beneath her proving mute evidence to her condition of pregnancy when the volcano had erupted. A skeleton with one hand in front of its face, futilely trying to shield against the lethal heat. Various bones were broken, and skulls were shattered more often than not, indicating that they died of thermal shock, which would cause the blood to boil and the organs, including the brain, to explode.

"Where are you?" he called, pitching his voice so a human could hopefully hear him.

"_Help me_." An image came to his mind of a beach choked with panicked civilians pouring into the boathouses trying to stay out of the falling ash. He hoped that was where she was. He passed all the excavated chambers, and reached where he assumed more would be.

"Can you hear this?" He pounded on the wall of ash.

"_Please, help me. I am here_." Edward tore into the volcanic debris, not heeding bricks, skeletons and rocks, until he reached a woman. She was harder than the rock, which made it obvious she was a vampire. Her skin was a pale olive tone, proving she was Mediterranean in origin. Her hair was long, black, and tangled in the volcanic rock in a mass of curls and ringlets that must have been in fashion in the first century AD in the Roman Empire. She wore a long gown and gold jewellery, proclaiming her status as a woman of wealth. Two thousand years of immobility had made her weak, and her eyes were pitch black from hunger. He left her half-excavated and dashed off, returning not ten minutes later with a pair of dead tigers from a zoo. He helped her, holding one tiger carcass to her lips. She bit down hungrily, spilling blood as she shook while feeding. "_Thank you_," she whispered mentally.

"You're welcome," he said. She looked up from her meal quizzically.

"_Can you read my mind?_"she asked, which only proved that thoughts were in direct meaning, not any particular language. Edward nodded, and said "Yes" in Latin. When she had drained the tigers, he tossed them out of the chamber and tore the rest of the rock away from her.

"What is your name?" he asked in Latin.

"Didyme."


End file.
